A brave Epsom healthcare worker is set to take on the most daunting of endurance challenges in memory of her late father, who died prematurely of a brain aneurysm.
Gemma Taylor, from Livingstone Park, will tackle the Windsor Dorney triathlon on Sunday, September 6 for Headway, which provides support for those affected by head injury.
Her father, Douglas Taylor, below, died at 67 from an inoperable brain aneurysm on November 5 2013.
The condition meant he was plagued by fits in his final years, and unable to do everyday tasks like drive his car.
A carpenter-joiner before he died, Mr Taylor is remembered as a great man by his former customers, who have contributed a large part of the £1,225 Ms Taylor has so far raised.
Ms Taylor said: "I contacted a lot of his old customers, many of whom had a long relationship with him.
"They all had very nice things to say about him - that he was a great man - and they’ve been incredibly generous."
The 32-year-old will take on a one-mile swim, before cycling 26 miles and finishing with a six-mile run, and her enormous challenge has also attracted sponsorship from three local businesses.
The logos of Epsom Day Surgery and Rush skin clinic will be emblazoned on Ms Taylor’s t-shirt, while Graft on the Green, a boot camp-style fitness class has also pledged a ‘large amount of money’.
But she said whether or not she reaches her £2,000 target, her main goal was to raise awareness of a cause that she feels does not get enough publicity.
She said: "Brain injury might not get the exposure other causes do, but the work Headway do is extremely important, and I’m really happy to do anything I can to help."
Visit her JustGiving page at justgiving.com/Gemma-Taylor32
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